Missouri Rolling Mill Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 3, 1941

31 N.L.R.B. 583 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of MISSOURI ROLLING MILL CORPORATION and AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF LABOR AND ITS AFFILIATED INTERNATIONAL UNIONS
Case No. B-2480.-, Decided May 3, '19.47
Jurisdiction : steel products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of,question: refusal
to accord union recognition ; contract with rival union for members only,
of indefinite duration, terminable upon notice by either party, and which
has been in effect for more than 3 years, no bar to ; election unnecessary :
parties entered into a "stipulation for certification" which recited, in sub-
stance, that the union represented a majority and that the Board might
certify the union.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees excluding supervisory and clerical employees and watchmen and
salesmen ; agreement as to.
Mr. E. P. Theiss , of St . Louis, Mo., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. Charles H. Spoehrer and Mr. William R. Gilbert, of St. Louis,
Mo., for the Company.
Mr. William H. Bartley , of counsel td the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March 7, 1941,, the American Federation of Labor and its
affiliated International Unions, herein called the A. F. of L., filed with
the Regional Director of the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Missouri)
a *petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen
concerning the representation of employees of Missouri Rolling Mill
. Corporation, , St. Louis, Missouri, herein called the Company, and
requesting 'an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. On'April 3, 1941, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board; acting pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the Act ,and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Re-
lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered
an investigation and authorized' the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an, appropriate hearing upon due notice.
31 N. L . R. B., No. 96.
583
584 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On April 3, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
A. F. of L. Pursuant,to notice, a hearing was held on April 7 and
8, '1941, at St. Louis, Missouri, before Wallace Cooper, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Com-
pany and the A. F. of L. were represented by counsel; both partici-
pated in the hearing. During the hearing the A. F. of L. moved
to amend its petition to exclude watchmen and salesmen from the
appropriate unit requested therein. The motion was granted. On
April 8 the hearing was adjourned to enable the parties to confer
regarding the possibility of entering into a consent election agree-
ment. On April 14, 1941, the Company, the-A. F. of L., the Trial
Examiner, and an attorney for the Board entered into a Stipulation
for Certification in lieu of the consent election agreement. The
Stipulation-was made part of the,record by filing-it with the Chief
Trial Examiner. The hearing was then closed. Full opportunity to
be heard, to examine 'and cross-examine witnesses, and to-introduce
evidence bearing oil the issues was afforded all parties. During the
course of the-hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings-on
motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The'Board
has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no
prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Missouri Rolling Mill Corporation is a Missouri corporation with
its office, in St. Louis, Missouri, where it main'tains' a -plant -for the
manufacture of steel products, which are principally reinforcing rods,
manufacturer's angles, and fence posts. During 1940, the aggregate
value of the finished products manufactured by the Company was .in
excess of $1,000,000. Approximately '63 per, cent of these products
were sold and shipped by it to purchasers in States other than the'
State of Missouri. -The raw materials used by the Company are
principally rerolling steel rails and axles. - The aggregate value • of
all raw materials used by the Company during 1940 was in excess of
$500,000, and approximately 79 per cent of these materials was
,shipped from points outside the State of Missouri. The Company's
business from January 1, 1941, to date has continued in substantially
the same manner as during 1940.
The Company admits that it ; is engaged in, interstate commerce
within the meaning of the Act. - -,
MISSOURI ROLLING MILL CORPORATION 585'
11. THE 'ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
American Federation of Labor and its affiliated International
Unions are labor organizations within the meaning of the Act
admitting to membership employees of the company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In its petition the A. F. of L. alleged, and during the hearii,
the Company did not deny, that on February 25, 1941, it requested
the Company to bargain with it as the exclusive representative of'
all employees of the Company and that the Company refused to
bargain with the A. F. of L. on the ground that it already had a
contract with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the
C. I. O. covering working conditions, rates of pay, hours of employ-
ment, and settlement of disputes. The contract was for the benefit
of members of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the C. 1. 0.
only and was entered into on July 1, 1937. It was to be in force
until February 28, 1938, and to remain in force from year to year
unless either party gave notice of desire to change the terms of the
agreement.' During the-course of the hearing a letter dated March
20, 1941, from the district director of the Steel Workers Organizing
Committee of the C. I. O. in reply to a letter from the Field Examiner
for the Board, was introduced in evidence. The district director's
letter stated that the C: I. O. would not intervene in the proposed
hearing in' this case and would not claim a place on the ballot.
A statement of the Regional Director introduced at the hearing
shows that the A. F. of L. represents a substantial number of em-_
ployees in the unit alleged by it to be appropriate.'
We find that a-question has arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company. ,
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find, that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
1 As far as the record discloses no such notice was given However, the contract is no
bar to the present investigation of representatives . See Matter of Hahn ct Feldm'an, Inc.,
and United Textile Workers of America , A F. of L, 30 N. L. R. B . 294, and cases cited
therein
2 The -Regional Director 's statement shows that of the 316 authorization cards furnished
him by the A. F. of L. 226 were dated between September 3, 1940, and March 14, 1941,
and i9 *ere undated. Of these cards 235 bore genuine signatures of employees on the
pay roll of March 22, 1941 . There are approximately- 429 employees - in the alleged
appropriate unit.
ti
586 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
relationship to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company and the A. F. of L. agreed at the hearing, and we
find, that all production and maintenance employees of the Company
at its St. Louis plant, exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees
and watchmen; and salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purpose of collective bargaining. We further find that said unit
will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their
right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise
effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The- Stipulation for Certification recited, in substance, that the
A. F. of L., at all times material to the case herein considered, has
represented a majority of the employees of the Company within the
unit alleged by the parties to be appropriate and -that the Board
might certify the A. F. of L. as the representative of those employees
in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining. We find that
the A. F. of L. has been designated and selected by a majority of
the employees in the appropriate unit as their representative for the
purposes,of collective bargaining.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAw
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Missouri Rolling Mill Corporation, St.
Louis, Missouri, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2
(6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company at
its St. Louis plant, excluding supervisory and clerical employees
and watchmen and salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3: The American Federation of Labor 'and its affiliated Inter-
national Unions are the exclusive representatives of all the employees
designated in paragraph-2 above,' for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, within the' meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor,
Relations Act.
MISSOURI ROLLING MILL CORPORATION 587
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8' and
9, of National -Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 2, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the American Federation of Labor and
its affiliated International Unions have been designated and selected
by a majority of all production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its St. Louis plant, excluding supervisory and clerical
employees and watchmen and salesmen, as their representatives for
the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the pro-
visions of Section 9 (a) 'of the Act, American Federation of Labor
and. its affiliated International Unions are the exclusive representa-
tives of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining
in respect, to rates of 'pay, wages, hours of employment, and other
conditions of employment.-
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